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What may be a new disease has been afflicting infants and young children in Japan since 1960. It is an acute, febrile mucocutaneous condition accompanied by swelling of cervical lymph nodes (tentatively called mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome [MLNS]). It may be misdiagnosed as scarlet fever, the Stevens-Johnson syndrome, or infantile periarteritis nodosa. The disease is now known to be widely occuring all over Japan with an increasing incidence each year. More than 6,000 cases have been reported as of 1973. One to two percent of the patients reported have died suddenly of cardiac failure. All the autopsies showed infantile periarteritis nodosa-like arteritis accompanied by coronary thrombosis and aneurysm. Some of the surviving cases have been shown to have similar changes. These findings lead us to believe that this clinical picture is a new clinical entity. Recently, rickettsia-like bodies were found by electron microscopy in biopsy specimens from the skin and lymph nodes of the patients. The bodies were isolated by yolk sac culture and their pathogenicity is now under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group A streptococcal infections are often associated with scarlet fever and flares of guttate psoriasis. Previous investigation has demonstrated the presence of a factor in streptococcal culture filtrates capable of stimulating proliferation of rabbit keratinocytes in vivo and human lymphocytes in vitro. This report outlines an in vivo method for the production of streptococcal proliferation factor, its purification, and characterization of its physical properties. We cultured Group A streptococci (Type 12, Strain NY5) in synthetic media by in vivo incubation within dialysis casing surgically implanted in rabbit peritoneum. Streptococcal exoproteins were isolated by centrifugation of the bacteria and millipore filtration. Purification of streptococcal proliferative factor was accomplished by differential solubility and molecular sieve chromatography. No proteolytic or hemolytic activity was discovered in the resulting product. The relative molecular weight of this factor is 29,000 as determined by SDS gels and molecular sieve chromatography. The sedimentation coefficient determined by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation is 2.7S. Isoelectric focusing showed minimal microheterogeneity with the pI of the major band being 5.0. Thus, streptococcal proliferative factor can be produced by in vivo incubation of streptococci in synthetic media. Purification entails a rapid 2-step process. The relative molecular weight, sedimentation coefficient and isoelectric points have been established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high genetic frequency of some inherited disorders may in part be related to a survival advantage conferred against in environmental hazard. Psoriasis is an inherited disorder which is common amongst populations of northern latitudes. Cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity response to streptococcal antigen is altered in such patients with a decrease in induration and erythema. Scarlet fever has until recently been associated with a high childhood mortality, the pathogenesis of which is related to interdependent primary toxicity and secondary toxicity (including delayed-type hypersensitivity) to streptococcal antigen (erythrogenic toxin), leading to cellular damage and potentially lethal shock. Streptococcal infection, usually presenting as pharyngitis, is a classical trigger for both scarlet fever and psoriasis. Individual susceptibility to scarlet fever has been clinically assessed in the past by the Dick test-an intradermal injection of the filtrate of a broth culture of scarlatina-producing strains of Streptococcus giving an erythematous reaction at 24-48 h (Dick-positive). The degree of reaction is directly related to susceptibility to scarlet fever. The severity of and mortality from scarlet fever may be ameliorated by immunological mechanisms also found in psoriatic patients. The high prevalence of psoriasis amongst some populations today may be related to such a protective factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on several types of skin allergies. Pityriasis rosea; Contact dermatitis; Scarlet fever.

Presents an article on being a nurse-practitioner. Conversion of a mobile home into a medical clinic; Case experience of a young patient with scarlet fever; Importance of preventive medicine in the nursing practice.

The article examines the famous nineteenth-century case of the blind deaf-mute, Laura Dewey Bridgeman. Bridgeman was born in 1829 and died in 1889. At the age of 2 she had a severe bout with scarlet fever and subsequently lost all visual and auditory capacities as well as the little speech she had acquired previously. She also suffered a severe reduction-if not a total loss-of olfactory and gustatory function. Such afflictions were not a rare accompaniment of scarlet fever and thus did not in themselves justify the fame and attention that was later focused on Laura. Despite such severe handicaps, she eventually learned to communicate by sign language and demonstrated remarkable mental ability.

The article focuses on a study which determines the relation of audiometric profiles characterizing hearing loss in children with the causes. The study found out that the flat moderate loss and the rising contour audiograms were characteristic of hearing loss as a result from ear infections and infected tonsils and adenoids. It was also found that children with perceptive deafness caused by measles, meningitis, scarlet fever and similar diseases showed more variability of audiogram patterning, but high tone loss was more evident.

Presents case studies of acute distension of the gallbladder associated with scarlet fever seen in a six-year-old boy. Clinical history of the patient; Review of related literature; Management of the condition.

Examines cases presenting with jaundice as an early manifestation of scarlet fever. Detection of bilirubinemia; Evidence of abnormal hepatic function; Scarlatiniform erythema.

The article presents information on scarlet fever, an infectious disease in children. The disease is considered a common condition in British primary care. It was first described by the Greek physician Hippocrates in 400 B.C. and has become less severe over the last hundred years. Its symptoms include rashes, nausea and vomiting. Sepsis is cited as one of its complications.

Problems of time series analysis for short-term and long-term prediction of morbidity using artificial neural networks are discussed. The predictive capacity of simple neural networks (bilayer perceptron) was tested for scarlet fever morbidity. It is demonstrated that neural networks using a special training sample provided satisfactory prognosis. The seasonal dynamics of scarlet fever morbidity was predicted in all test variants. The prognosis error for a two-year period was 40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the validity of scarlet fever as the reason behind the blindness of Mary Ingalls at the age of 14 in 1879. Included are reports on Ingall's illness and the memoirs of her sister Laura Ingalls Wilders on the stages of her illness. The authors conclude that Ingalls lost her sight due to viral meningoencephalitis based on clinical manifestations.

A Journal of the Dermatology Nurses' Association (JDNA) quiz on dermatology is presented.

The article discusses a study which examined the notification data of scarlet fever, as well as its spatiotemporal spreading patterns in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong, China. The total number of scarlet fever cases in the region as of December 31, 2011 was 1,535. Information on the transmission mechanism of group A Streptococcus is provided. According to the study, there were higher notification levels for imported cases in main border crossings to mainland China.

The article presents information on the transmission, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of scarlet fever in children. This disease is characterized by a rash followed by a sore throat caused by Streptococcus A bacteria. The main treatment method for scarlet fever is antibiotics. Advice concerning the management of the symptoms include administration of prescribed medication, consumption of warm drinks, rest and medication to control temperature.

Children in the United States have benefited considerably from advancements in medical and nursing science over the course of the past 200 years. The twentieth century saw dramatic declines in the incidence of childhood diseases; the prevalence of measles, haemophilus influenzae type B, diphtheria, rubella and tetanus are at all time lows (CDC, 2006). Indeed, many pediatric nurses have never seen any of these diseases, something that would certainly have startled their predecessors just a few generations ago. Before the mid- twentieth century, caring for children with communicable diseases represented the cornerstone of pediatric nursing practice. Now that the incidence has decreased among American children, it is easy to forget about these diseases that once decimated whole communities. This article tries to peel back the mists of history by studying children's health in one rural New England town during the days of the early republic in the 1830s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The re-emergence of scarlet fever poses a new global public health threat. The capacity of North-East Asian serotype M12 (emm12) Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus, GAS) to cause scarlet fever has been linked epidemiologically to the presence of novel prophages, including prophage ΦHKU.vir encoding the secreted superantigens SSA and SpeC and the DNase Spd1. Here, we report the molecular characterization of ΦHKU.vir-encoded exotoxins. We demonstrate that streptolysin O (SLO)-induced glutathione efflux from host cellular stores is a previously unappreciated GAS virulence mechanism that promotes SSA release and activity, representing the first description of a thiol-activated bacterial superantigen. Spd1 is required for resistance to neutrophil killing. Investigating single, double and triple isogenic knockout mutants of the ΦHKU.vir-encoded exotoxins, we find that SpeC and Spd1 act synergistically to facilitate nasopharyngeal colonization in a mouse model. These results offer insight into the pathogenesis of scarlet fever-causing GAS mediated by prophage ΦHKU.vir exotoxins. The pathogenesis of Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS) causing scarlet fever has been associated with the presence of prophages, such as ΦHKU.vir, and their products. Here, the authors characterize the exotoxins SpeC and Spd1 of ΦHKU.vir and show these to act synergistically to facilitate nasopharyngeal colonization in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on how temporary loss of vision in scarlet fever. Topics icnlude the failure of vision its evident association with the attack of scarlet fever, the slight recovery that had taken place, the general appearance of good health of the patient, and the slight affection of the retina visible.

Scarlet fever has resurged in China starting in 2011, and the environment is one of the potential reasons. Nationwide data on 655,039 scarlet fever cases and six air pollutants were retrieved. Exposure risks were evaluated by multivariate distributed lag nonlinear models and a meta-regression model. We show that the average incidence in 2011–2018 was twice that in 2004–2010 [RR = 2.30 (4.40 vs. 1.91), 95% CI: 2.29–2.31; p < 0.001] and generally lower in the summer and winter holiday (p = 0.005). A low to moderate correlation was seen between scarlet fever and monthly NO2 (r = 0.21) and O3 (r = 0.11). A 10 μg/m3 increase of NO2 and O3 was significantly associated with scarlet fever, with a cumulative RR of 1.06 (95% CI: 1.02–1.10) and 1.04 (95% CI: 1.01–1.07), respectively, at a lag of 0 to 15 months. In conclusion, long-term exposure to ambient NO2 and O3 may be associated with an increased risk of scarlet fever incidence, but direct causality is not established. The reason for a re-emergence of scarlet fever in China remains unclear. Here the authors show that the number of scarlet fever cases surged in 2011 peaking in 2018, this correlates with an increase in NO2 and O3 but does not necessarily imply causation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging cases of childhood scarlet fever (SF) and worsening air pollution problems in Chinese cities suggests a potential linkage between them. However, few studies had explored this association in a large childhood population. We conducted a time-series analysis using the daily count of SF and the daily concentrations of particulate matters with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 (PM 2.5) and 10 (PM 10), as well as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) in Hangzhou, China from 2014 to 2018. Distributed lag nonlinear models were used to estimate the lag effects of PM 2.5 , PM 10 and NO 2 for a maximum lag of 10 days, which were quantified using relative risk (RR) comparing the adjusted risks at the 2.5th (extremely low effect) and 97.5th (extremely high effect) percentiles of concentration of the three air pollutants to that at the median. Stratified RRs by sex were also reported. Using the median concentration as reference, for extremely high effect, the RR was the highest on lag days 5, 6, and 3 for PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 respectively. While on lag day 0, the RR of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 were 1.04 (95%CI: 0.90–1.20), 1.07 (95%CI: 0.92–1.24), and 1.08 (95%CI: 0.92–1.26) respectively, the RRs increased constantly and cumulatively to the maximum values of 1.88 (95%CI: 1.33–2.66), 1.82 (95%CI: 1.29–2.55), and 2.19 (95%CI: 1.47–3.27) for PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 respectively on lag day 10. Subgroup analyses showed that females appeared to be more vulnerable to the three pollutants than males. Our study provides evidence that PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 exert delayed effects on SF infection. Image 1 • Both the resurgence of scarlet fever and air pollution had caused global concern. • PM 2.5 , PM 10 and NO 2 exert delayed effects on childhood scarlet fever infection. • Females appeared to be more vulnerable to the three pollutants than males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the study which found that the wide spectrum of group A streptococcal (GAS) disease spans uncomplicated strep throat to flesh-eating would infections. According to the study, complications of GAS infections such as scarlet fever, rheumatic fever and acute glomerulonephritis fluctuated within a constant background of pharyngitis and impetigo.

The article provides an overview of the history of infectious diseases in humans. All the familiar infectious diseases have evolved only since the advent of agriculture, permanent settlement and the growth of cities. Most of these communicable diseases were transferred to humans from domestic animals. Throughout the 1800s and into the early 1900s, deaths from infectious diseases such as scarlet fever, diphtheria and measles, among other diseases, had declined in most developed countries.

The article presents information on the author's opinion on the epidemiology of acute rheumatic fever in the U.S. Infections of Group A streptococci (GAS) results in a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, ranging from mild infection to severe infections due to invasive disease or nonsuppurative sequelae. Clinical presentations of GAS infection have changed considerably over the past century. Until the early 1900s, scarlet fever epidemics were common, and the mortality rate for scarlet fever was estimated to be as high as 30%.

Infection with group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GABHS) is the most common bacterial cause of acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis beyond infancy. We report on two patients with scarlet fever associated with hepatitis. The patients (boys aged 6 and 7 years) both presented with a scarlatiniform rash, dark urine and light-colored stools. Laboratory studies revealed elevated liver transaminases and negative antibody tests against hepatitis viruses A, B and C, cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus. Both patients were treated with antibiotics and recovered completely within a few days. Although the association between scarlet fever and hepatitis has been known for many decades, the pathogenesis is stilt unknown. Physicians treating patients with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infections should be aware of possible hepatic involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 3-year-old female patient who had a medical history of celiac disease. Topics discussed include the strawberry tongue and skin fold erythema presented in the patient; the prescription of antibiotic treatment with clavulanic acid and amoxicillin for scarlet fever; and the diagnosis of lichen striatus after it, which was treated with methylprednisolone.

The increasing number of reported scarlet fever cases during 2011‒2016 in the National Notifiable Infectious Disease database in South Korea occurred because of increased overall reporting and expanded reporting criteria rather than because of increasing scarlet fever incidence. Further increases are anticipated because of other expansions in reporting requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]